Haslam College of Business’ Studio 401 has turned the sometimes-dreary world of Zoom classes into a new learning experience. Using Technology Fee Funds, Studio 401 converts the traditional classroom into a modern studio/classroom hybrid that empowers instructors to engage students on a higher level. A classroom production team can control lights, cameras and action from an adjacent control room, allowing both students attending class in-person and Zoom participants to experience the same class without distractions. Students who attend the class in-person see the instructor face-to-face with video content on a local display while Zoom participants can see the instructor keyed over the same content. Advanced digital audio technologies allow for independent audio mixes for each group of students and allows for more natural conversation between the in-person and virtual students.
Law College Video Studio
Distance Education was increasing within legal education prior to the Covid Pandemic. The American Bar Association, legal education’s accrediting body, was already in the process of reviewing distance education rules to provide students more opportunities for distance education credits. The pandemic fast-forwarded the process providing the University of Tennessee College of Law with expanding flexibility in distance education. The College the Tech Fee Funds to provide students and faculty a studio to record and stream quality videos. The studio has quality cameras, lighting, a teleprompter, and editing software. Students reserve the studio for Moot Court competitions, course assignments, and student organization videos. Faculty use the studio to produce course videos, live presentations, and any other video needs. Since Fall 2021 the studio has produced over 100 videos or streams.
Computer workstations at the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center
To support students while they’re in the process of working on their writing assignments, the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center provides 15 desktop computers and a printer in HSS 212. Thousands of writers from any course on campus talk with tutors each year to get feedback on their work. Having the chance to get right to work on making revisions while the tutor’s advice is fresh in mind is so important to producing a successful paper. For many years, the Technology Fee has provided the computers and updated them on a regular basis to make sure they’re always up-to-date with the latest operating systems. Tech Fee support plays a key role in helping UT students develop and improve as writers.
Instructional Laptops (UT Libraries)
UT Librarians teach, on average, over 900 instruction sessions per year to over 20,000 students in support of undergraduate and graduate education. These sessions teach students skills in research, scholarship, and creative activities. Of the sessions taught, approximately two-thirds were undergraduates in first year, general education, and upper division courses. Twenty-eight MacBook Pro laptops and a companion Bretford storage/charging cart purchased with Technology Fee funds gives undergraduate, graduate, and honors students hands-on opportunities to conduct background and bibliographic research, synthesize scholarly resources into their own writing, and to cite their sources.
Purpose of Tech Fee
The purpose of the Technology Fee is to support the mission of the University by providing all students with improved access to the technological infrastructure, resources, and services at UTK enhancing the student’s educational experience.
This site is used to coordinate the work of the Technology Fee Advisory Board (TAB).
Funding Process
The Technology Fee provides funding to the technological infrastructure of the University in order to provide the best for students in teaching, learning, and research. This fee supports a number of basic computing and telecommunications services: central computing and server facilities; on-line documentation and computer-based training courses; student computer labs; software; and student support services.
